HP- The Aryan Legacy
by ArunabhAryan
Summary: Unable to tolerate the corruption at the Ministry, Harry goes on in an odyssey in search of knowledge. Upon returning home he finds WWWIII looming in the future. Taking his oldest bushy haired friend with him, he starts on a new journey embracing the legacy of the Aryans, a very ancient magical family. Join the duo in severe planning, gaining allies, action and saving the world!
1. Chapter 1- Prolouge

**HP- THE ARYAN LEGACY**

By ArunabhAryan

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 _The Aryan Legacy_ will contain time-travel and a bit of dimensional travel. The time travel will be to the mid-1900s. The dimensional travel will be explained when the opportune moment arrives. However the time travel fact won't be much significant in the main story as our protagonists won't be too liberal with that piece of information.

A few things to consider before reading the fanfic -

The rating will mostly be T. There will be warnings if the rating is increased in any chapter.

Harry Potter gets a new identity, that of Ares Aryan; Lord of the Primordial House Aryan and will be mostly referred as such. He will be accompanied by Hermione as Athena Aryan.

There will be a lot of OCs as very few main characters from the 1960s were detailed in Rowling's plot.

The duo would be very powerful but reasons for the aggrandizement would be mentioned where needed.

Ares and Athena would not confide in Dumbledore about their past. They will pave their own path and forge new alliances.

The main pairing will be Ares Aryan/Cassiopeia Black. She will be one of the most important characters in the story. However as I find the actual familiar relations of the Blacks with other families confusing, I'll be simplifying matters. For the purpose of this story I request the readers to _obliviate_ themselves temporarily of their present knowledge of the Black family tree.

Ares and Athena would be neutral, neither dark nor light sided but definitely on the side of good.

They would put into motion a lot of serious plans that would change the structure of the entire world.

Check up on the Aryan race if you don't know about them. I will bend a few things, no scratch that, a lot of things to suit the purpose of this story but I assure you it won't be outrageous in any way. And the most important thing- enjoy. I didn't write this for myself, I wrote it for you. If you find any mistakes, or like it, or didn't like something, please review. I'd appreciate if the criticisms are constructive rather than derogatory.

 _The Aryan_ _Legacy_ is not _BETA_ ed yet. If anyone is interested in doing it, please PM me.

 **DISCLAIMER:** I'm only saying it once. So please read it.

 _THE ARYAN LEGACY_ is a fanfic. So obviously I am borrowing the world of J.K. Rowling. Whatever you recognize from her series is her own. The rest are mine.

There are more than 80,000 fanfics of HP on this site alone, so there is a high possibility of a few things being similar with other publications. I'm not stealing anything from anyone. However I have been inspired by a few brilliant fanfic writers. It would be really difficult listing them all here but I owe a thanks to all the authors I've set as favourites. They have authored some really wonderful pieces of writing.

 **Prologue**

Life after Voldemort's death was by no means easy. A staggering amount of the good people were already dead or incapacitated, the living populace had mostly broken down. There were no parties celebrating his death as the general mood was sombre, gloomy. There was, however, work to be done. The remaining Death Eaters had to be rounded up and again there was the issue of reconstruction and proper governance.

Harry Potter and his friends were not the ones to laze. They were the first of the new generation to join the Ministry. Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Ernie and Susan joined the Auror ranks right after the Battle of Hogwarts. Hermione, Hannah, Padma and several others joined the administrative services. But it was not only them. People from all over Britain had volunteered to help the Ministry rebuild their country from the horrors of the Dark Reign in every way they could.

Four years later all marked DEs and most of the snatchers were caught and put to trial. The Malfoys, though disgraced, had helped in the captures to avoid Azkaban. They let the Unspeakables inspect their Dark Marks and provided information essential for building the DE Catcher, as it came to be called. The device was able to track the DEs through their Marks. That had led to most of the captures.

The supporters and sympathisers of Voldemort in the Ministry were rounded up too and put to trail. The dementors were recaptured and kept locked in at the base of Azkaban till a way to permanently kill them was found. Although the dementors' presence was still felt, the prison was guarded by specially trained Aurors now. The reconstruction of the various damaged places had been completed and several war memorials were set up. Diagon Alley was fully functional once again and Gringotts had restarted their services.

However these repairs only took care of the physical scars of the Blood War. The mental scars were still fresh even after four years of peace. Most of the people were dispirited and happiness became a foreign concept to many. Why wouldn't it be? Only a few families were still whole after the war, several were completely destroyed, many people were crippled. Perhaps the only reason people went on was because of posterity. The Ministry was supposed to lead the way and that is what it did. Those scars might fade a bit with time but they will always be there to remind them of the reign of the most evil Dark Lord since the days of Morgana LaFey.

Harry was made an Auror Captain after three years of service. He deserved it considering the hard work he did in rounding up the DEs and catching several other known criminals who had evaded justice for a long time. Ron was in his team along with several ex- DA members. Their hard work and dedication in service led them to be considered the best in the department by many. Hermione, on the other hand, was the second-in-charge of the newly created Department of Magical Species Cooperation, which dealt with Veelas, Merpeople, Werewolves, Vampires, Giants and other beings often classified as dark. The ministry didn't like them but at the same time they didn't want such creatures to join hands with any dark force in the future. Kingsley, being the Minister, had pushed forward for many new reforms. Everything was turning out just fine. Well, better than last time at least.

However, that would be considered an outsider's view. Nothing actually was perfect.

A few years of Ministry work had disgusted the golden trio. The blatant corruption and dirty politics still existed. Higher you go up the Ministry ladder; the more aware you become of the mentioned vices. Harry had hoped that with Voldemort's defeat, things would be good again, be normal. Unfortunately, that was the normal in the Ministry. Kingsley had tried a lot to remove it or at least censor it as much as possible, but even after being Minister, he could do very less. One cannot simply change lifelong habits with simple instructions, right?

According to Kingsley, the corruption had actually increased after Voldemort's downfall. Earlier people were a bit afraid to indulge themselves too much in it, but now, with the fear factor gone, everyone became busy fulfilling their own selfish interests and lining up their pockets. Things were not pretty at all.

The notion of pureblood supremacy though weakened, still existed and discrimination followed hand in hand. The organizational setup was perfect, however. The only distressing thing was it didn't work at all. Most of the things were just for show.

Harry was royally fed up. He didn't have the same zeal he once had for his work. So he decided to quit. The Potters were quite wealthy, being an old pureblood family and he didn't have to work to live. The goblins had confiscated almost half of his wealth as payment for the damage during the dragon escapade that too without informing him, but still the Potter wealth was substantial.

Hermione and Ron shared his feelings but as none of them were financially strong as he was, they had to continue their work.

Being in full control of the Potter finances, Harry decided to travel. There was nothing binding him to Britain anymore. His relationship with Ginny never returned to their earlier intimacy and she didn't show much interest in its renewal. So Harry decided to explore the world. He had developed a thirst for adventure and he planned to fulfil it. Moreover there were many other magical cultures with their own unique magicks and Harry had always been fascinated with magic. In a nutshell he decided to enjoy life to the fullest.

And invest, of course.

Most old pureblood families did that, investments and politics. Harry's grandfather Charlus Potter was a well renowned politician and a respected member of the Wizenagamot. He was a good businessman too. Investments ensured a good income without doing a good paying job.

So Harry did that too. However he was very cross with the goblins. Aside from being disrespectful to everyone except themselves they had neglected the Potter account. As a result the earlier investments had been laid aside to be almost non-existent. And there was the dragon damage confiscation issue too. So he withdrew his entire account and deposited it in different muggle banks investing almost 90% of it in the technology based companies.

After taking care of his finances and saying his goodbye to his friends, Harry started his odyssey…

\m/\m/\m/

45 years later when he returned to England he was a changed man; powerful, dexterous and knowledgeable. But he was wrong to think that everything else would be the same back home. He realised it the hard way.

Harry had apparated directly to the Burrow from his last stoppage in South America. His training in the last four and a half decades had made it possible for him to achieve such a feat. However his high hopes of seeing his best friends and their family was squashed when he arrived there. There was nothing around him except ashes.

A sudden dread crept inside him. What happened to the place? Where were his friends? Heart hammering fast, Harry looked around trying to observe every single detail. What he concluded didn't please him at all. There were ashes in every direction as far as the eye could see. He knew very well what could cause such destruction and it was most definitely not magical in nature.

Nucleon-quark bombs.

The 21st century successor of the atom bomb and ten times more lethal than its predecessor. Harry would know, he was a member of the team that designed it.

When Harry visited America as a part of his world tour, he had come across a squib genetical engineer, John Vigil. A few hours later, he was jovially introduced to a group of squib scientists and by the next day he was a member of the group itself. The group, led by John Vigil, was devoted to the sciences. A few members of the team had designed the prototype of such a bomb.

In his desire to learn more about magic he had mostly ignored the muggle world during his travels. When John Vigil, the scientist, started teaching him, he found that the technology of 2004 was vastly different from that of 2035. A few years of co-living with John rectified his deficiency in that brand of knowledge. But it was not only that, the entire group had taken him as an apprentice and instructed him in their respective specialities.

Harry sighed wearily and sat down on the ash covered ground. He knew that if the Weasleys were present in the area when the bomb detonated, they were amongst the ashes surrounding him. Tears leaked out of his eyes unbidden. The first friends he ever made were dead. The family which had accepted him when his own relatives shunned him was destroyed.

Harry didn't know how long he sat there, lost in his mind, but when he got up, his eyes were burning in a greenish inferno. Squashing the terrible pain inside him he disapparated to Diagon Alley. He decided that he would find out who was responsible for this destruction and make them pay for it.

When Harry arrived in Diagon Alley he stumbled upon a sea of people. He quickly cast a wandless glamour on himself and tried to navigate through the crowd. He didn't want people fawning over him. However, unlike his belief, the crowd wasn't moving forward, in fact, it wasn't moving at all.

A sharp pain suddenly returned as he realised the probable reason of the phenomenon. Controlling his feelings he tried to listen to the conversations around him. After half an hour of listening and discreet questioning he found out what was going on.

World War III.

Being out of the loop for last three years, he was unable to follow the news. Apparently terrorists had managed to steal three nucleon-quark bombs from the United States Military stronghold and detonate it in England, China and Russia. Tens of millions were already dead. Though reeling from the attack, the affected countries as well as many other nuclear powered countries were gearing up for war. They believed the stealing part was a strategy by the States to prevent the blame from falling directly on their heads.

The UNO had failed spectacularly as well. All kinds of international relations were tense.

According to Harry's findings several places in Britain had taken a hit. This was one of the reasons why the other countries were in an uproar and didn't listen to USA's version of the events. One bomb cannot make more than one blast, right? Right, but the nucleon-quark bombs were of a completely different breed. They were compartmentalised and if desired, can break up into several deadly parts. Aside muggles, hundreds of magicals had died and a few hundreds rendered homeless. The Ministry of Magic, Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade were filled up with people trying to find information or shelter or sources of food. The Weasley family was mostly dead. He found out that only Hermione and her daughter survived as they were both in Hogwarts during the tragic incident. Andromeda and his godson Teddy had died too.

Unable to control himself, Harry sat down on the porch of the nearest shop and wept. This was the first time he wept after almost 5 decades. The memories of time spent with his friends flooded his mind. They were dead, and he didn't do anything to prevent it. A part of him also cursed himself in his part of building the bomb. Although he had lived without his loved ones for 45 years, Harry knew that the void created by their death can never be fulfilled by anyone, especially Ron's. He was special in his own way. He was not Harry's best mate for nothing.

Wishing to see his remaining oldest friend, Harry stood up and wiped his tears. It wouldn't bode well for Hermione to see him crying. She herself must be shaken terribly with the death of her husband and most of the family. He had to be her support in such a time. Dispelling the notice-me-not charm he had cast almost unconsciously, he apparated directly to the Hogwarts gate, he was not in a mood to pass through Hogsmeade.

On the way to the castle he removed the glamour and tightened his Occlumency shields. Trying to keep a blank face he entered the castle. He was about to go towards the teachers' common room when he noticed students going to the Great Hall.

It must be lunch time so everyone was probably in the great hall. _Damn!_ He wanted to meet her alone and avoid the crowd but fate wouldn't smile upon him so easily. Sighing he marched silently towards the Great Hall. As he pushed open the partially opened huge oak doors, the creaking sound made everyone turn towards him.

Harry was used to the staring by now but somehow he felt a bit uncomfortable today. The entire hall became quiet, eyeing the newcomer. Harry observed that the number of students in the hall were more than the students in his time. _Must be a result of Voldemort-less environment_ , he thought. He quickly scanned the staff table. There was no Hermione. In the central chair sat someone else. The black haired man sitting in the Headmaster's chair had a disbelieving yet relieved look on his face.

"Harry?" The person asked hesitantly.

Immediately murmurs erupted around him. Harry looked at the person carefully. He recognized the face of his friend Neville Longbottom. However there were a few distinctive changes. The man had dark circles around his eyes and looked frail and a bit ill.

"Nice to know that you still remember me Neville." Harry replied with a small smile.

Neville reacted by hurrying towards him and a giving him a tight hug. Hug would perhaps be unsuitable as he held on to Harry as if he was his lifeline. Harry patted his back softly as few tears came to Neville's eyes. Sniffing his tears, Neville released his hold on Harry after a few seconds.

"Most of them, Harry... Most of them are no more." Neville barely managed to whisper out before choking on unshed tears.

"I know Neville, I know." Harry replied in a grave voice. As much as he wanted to cry out like Neville, he knew it wouldn't do any good. Controlling his feelings again Harry continued, "Control your emotions Neville, you are a mess. People here look up to you. Don't disappoint them. You have to be strong, if not for yourself then for your staff and students."

Neville nodded, a bit ashamed at his conduct. "Thanks Harry, I needed to hear that." Observing his friend Neville continued, a slight smile on his lips, "You haven't changed much Harry. You look no older than 35."

It was true. Harry's time with Guru Shankar Acharya had been immensely beneficial.

Returning a small smile Harry said, "True Neville. I'll tell you the secret someday. Now, where's Hermione."

Neville's face turned gloomy again. "She is in St. Mungo's with Lily."

"St. Mungo's? Why? And who's Lily?" Harry asked, dread creeping inside him.

"Lily is her youngest daughter. She's an Auror. When she went to help in the affected areas, the radiation got her. Hermione's with her in the hospital." Neville informed him.

Radiation...

Harry suddenly got the answer to many questions revolving in his mind. It took him immense strength of mind to stop himself from releasing the pent-up rage and its accompanying power.

 _Those bastards. They must have negated the radiation suppression chemicals before unleashing the terrors of the bombs._ Harry cursed the ones responsible for the blasts.

Taking care not to betray his actual emotions, Harry gave a brief nod to Neville and left the castle quickly before anyone could interrupt him. As soon as he was out of the wards he disapparated to the St. Mungo's lobby. The sight which greeted him was not at all pleasant. Patients were sitting and sleeping in rugs laid serially on the floor of the lobby and corridors. Harry approached the welcome witch.

"Hello, I'm looking for Hermione Gra- Weasley. Her daughter Lily Weasley is admitted here?"

The welcome witch didn't look up from the papers she was perusing.

"Name?" She asked after a moment.

Harry hesitated a bit but replied truthfully nonetheless. "Harry Potter."

The witch immediately looked up. Seeing him actually standing in front of her, she stuttered out, "Mr Po-pott-er?"

Harry restrained his irritation. He hated such behaviour. "Yes. In which ward are the Weasleys?"

"Ward No 413, fourth floor. But it's not visiting time yet." The welcome witch replied avoiding the stutter.

"Are you sure you can't make an exception? I really need to see them." Harry asked, adopting a charming smile. His travels and experience had taught him the power of charms.

Blushing a bit the young lady replied, "I believe an exception can be made."

Thanking the welcome witch for her help he rushed towards the elevators without paying attention to something the lady was telling. Ten seconds later, he was in-front 413. Knocking once, he entered without waiting for a reply.

The room was just like any other hospital ward. In the centre was a bed where a young lady was lying with several instruments attached to her body. She appeared to be sleeping. The woman sitting beside her turned her head towards the door hearing the knock. Her bushy hair was dishevelled and there were large black circles around her eyes, puffy from crying. Seeing the newcomer the flow of tears restarted and Hermione jumped on Harry, embracing him.

Harry felt her tears on his neck, soaking his shirt. He didn't mind. He murmured little consolations in her ears and rubbed her back soothingly. They remained in an embrace for almost five minutes till Hermione apparently ran out of tears.

Harry led the distraught woman to the two-seater sofa at one corner of the room. Harry still had one arm around her as she embraced him again from the sides.

"Why Harry, why did they have to die?" Hermione sobbed.

Harry took in a deep breath. He was never the one for consoling others. But he had to do it this time.

"Life and Death are one of the few things that we just can't control, Hermione. The same thing happened about 80 years ago when Voldemort rose for the first time. People were killed, families destroyed. We either have to fight against it or leave it as it is. We fought last time. But this time it's not possible to do that in a similar way. We might be looking at the beginning of something much more devastating than that, a world war. It would definitely be much more deadly than the earlier two."

Hermione looked up as Harry continued, sobs forgotten.

"There was no way you could have known about the blasts. We have only one option Hermione, mourn them and move on. They will always remain in our hearts if not in a physical form. Moreover death might just be the beginning of another spectacular journey. It might even be possible that they are observing us now from where they are and I don't think Ron or any other family member would like you crying for them. You have Lily and me now. Consider yourself lucky that you are still alive to continue the legacy. Be optimistic."

Staring at him for a few moments, Hermione smiled a bit, perhaps the only smile since the incident. The pain inside Harry quelled a bit after seeing her smile. He had always thought of Hermione as his sister although he had never mentioned it aloud. They had a very special and close relationship even stronger than the one he had for Ron in certain aspects.

"You have changed Harry, you have changed a lot. Where did you learn to talk like that? And how come you look so young?" Hermione asked with a slightly teasing smile.

"Well you have rubbed off on me, I guess. The years with my Guru helped too. As for looking young, I might tell you the secret if you stop moping." Harry returned playfully.

She laughed. Not the full blown laugh but still, it was a start.

"Oh, you have definitely changed. I like this you better than your earlier scrawny impulsive self."

"Not fair 'Mione, you know the Dursley environ was not exactly a nourishing one." Harry almost pouted before remembering he was 68 and not 8. "And how did you know that I am less impulsive now?"

"Finally remembered your age Mr. Potter?" Hermione almost smirked. "As for impulsiveness, I don't know, you seem more powerful and ... mature."

"About time then." Harry grumbled in a low voice, but she heard it nonetheless.

Hermione smiled at him fondly and embraced him again. "It's good having you back Harry."

"Okay, okay, enough of the emotional times. What's the condition of Lily now?"

The mood turned sombre again and Hermione answered slowly, trying hard to avoid breaking down again.

"The healers say it's critical. The radiation damaged her lungs and livers. The heart is affected too but the damage there is considerably less. The doctors have sedated her to spare her the pain she was going through."

Harry cringed at the answer. He had been hoping that by some miracle this wouldn't happen. He didn't know what to tell her. Should he tell her that Lily's death was guaranteed or stay innocent of the whole matter. He decided to tell the truth.

"She is as good as dead then, Hermione."

"What? Why?" Hermione panicked.

Harry sucked in a deep breath and explained, "The radiation triggers a chain reaction eroding away all the vital organs slowly. Considering the fact that she was hit with the radiation ten days ago, she will die within the next five days."

"How do you know that, Harry? The doctors said that there was a 50-50 chance of recovery." Hermione was almost in tears now.

Harry braced himself. "I know Hermione, because I was a member of the group who designed the bomb."

"B-but-" Hermione didn't complete the sentence. A fierce fire suddenly lit up her brown eyes. Before Harry could say anything Hermione screeched, face contorted in rage, "Get out. GET OUT NOW!"

Harry knew Hermione was beyond reason now and that he couldn't do anything to control or lessen that. He knew that Hermione had only reacted due to the pain she was suffering from, so he didn't mind. He moved towards the door. But before leaving he gently reminded her, "Don't give her category 4 potions, Hermione. Tell the healers, they would get the idea. I'll be just a patronus away if you need me." And he was gone.

Hearing her friend speak thus, Hermione instantly regretted her words. Deep inside her, she knew that it wasn't actually Harry's fault; she would have to apologize to him later. Remembering the happy moments she experienced with Harry and her family brought tears to her eyes, again.

After leaving Hermione, Harry apparated to one of the hillocks near Hogwarts. He was a complete mess too. His occlumency had protected him from breaking down earlier. But now, with no restrictive situation around, he faced his emotions properly. Sitting down on the green surface he began to go through almost every memory he had of the deceased, crying and laughing as the situation in his memories demanded. This technique was very old but effective in getting distressing emotions and memories under control. There is no other better option than facing the grief inside oneself instead of drowning in them.

Two hours later, he felt peace again as he observed the setting sun covering the castle, the lake and the forest in reddish-orange glow. That method never fails. Moreover Guru Shankar Acharya's ideologies had influenced him a lot too. He remembered the time spent with the Guru in the Kailash Mountain quite well.

 _Flashback_

He had been looking for an ancient Indian temple dedicated to the Lord Shiva in the Kailash Range when a blizzard separated him from his guide and he blacked out. When he woke up two days later it was on a hard cot in a very plain stone room. There wasn't much there except the cot on which he had slept and a small table by its side. His wand and glasses lay there. He quickly wore his glasses and pocketed his wand. There were two windows on adjacent walls and a door. After observing his surroundings, he noticed that he was wearing a long white kurta and pyjamas (as he came to know later).

Getting up from the cot he looked out of the window to found himself looking at a green forest. The other window presented the same picture. He went towards the door and pulled it open. Another stretch of forest lay before him, no sign of his rescuer. However there was a small trail on the side which went uphill. He decided to take it.

Harry didn't stop till he reached the top, but when he did and took a proper look around, he was mesmerised. A huge temple stood proudly before him, unblemished by time or nature, yet it was definitely ancient considering the architecture of the structure. So finally, he had discovered the mythical Kailash Temple. But that was not what captivated him, it was the majesty of nature that surrounded the temple. A forest of thousands of acres stretched around the temple covering the entire mountain. He could see the entire Kailash range and its snow covered peaks. Strangely not a single snow flake was to be seen in the mountain he was on. The sun was near the horizon, about to set. Flocks of birds flew over his head back to their homes. Deers and squirrels moved about the temple complex without any fear.

Speechless at the beautiful panorama before him, he sat down on one of the temple stairs and took it all in. He was so engrossed in the scenery that he didn't notice when an old man clad in a white dhoti sat beside him.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Harry jumped away in shock but relaxed after seeing the old ascetic. Despite his advanced age, he looked fit and somehow ... saturated with power. As he was the only human in the mountain that he had seen, Harry guessed he was the priest of the temple and his rescuer.

"Yes, it's enthralling. I really must thank you for saving me from the blizzard, sir." Harry replied in gratitude.

"Well, I guessed that you were worth saving." The ascetic/priest replied in a gentle voice.

"If you don't mind me asking, sir, who are you? Are you the priest of the temple?"

The priest/ascetic laughed softly. "This temple is not dedicated to the _God_ Shiva, my son, it is the place where the Lord Shiva practiced the inestimable arts he knew. This temple doesn't need a priest."

Harry was confused. "Umm... what's the difference?"

"The Lord Shiva was a real person who lived millennia ago. You can say that he is the Vedic Merlin. Magicals believe in him. The God Shiva is a myth created by the non-magicals."

"Oh, so you are the um... teacher here?"

The ascetic chuckled softly. "I'm more popular as a Guru."

"Oh, yes." Harry smiled sheepishly. He had forgotten the Indian style of addressing a teacher. The Guru smiled and continued watching the sunset.

In the meanwhile Harry's brain was working overtime. There were only a few real magical Gurus left in the world. It is an opportunity of a lifetime.

"Guru-ji?" Harry asked hesitantly adding the ji to be more respectful.

"Yes?"

"Will you take me as your disciple?"

The Guru turned to look at him, gazing at his emerald eyes. Harry suddenly felt bare. Although he didn't feel any intrusion in his mind, he knew that he was being scanned. Fearing that the guru might not take him as a disciple after learning about his knowledge of dark magic, he put his shields up to their maximum strength. His time in the Albanian University of Magic had not been wasted.

However a major part of his conscience immediately opposed the decision. He was what he was. He should not hide his true self. If the guru didn't take him as his disciple he shouldn't be disgruntled or angry. It was the guru's decision after all.

He withdrew his shields after that and bared his mind. A few moments later the guru asked him, a small smile gracing his lips. "What do you want to learn?"

"Anything and everything you decide to teach me." Harry replied eagerly.

"And why do you want to learn more? You already know enough."

Harry took his time to answer that question.

"I don't know. I'm hoping to find the answer here." He really didn't know and that question had been plaguing him for years.

"Good. You chose to tell the truth despite your initial fears. Truth is one of the first steps in building a true and long lasting relationship. We start tomorrow at 4"

 _Flashback ends_

The 8 years with his guru had been the most educational in his life. It was the guru who had first told him the importance of the greater good. Harry was initially annoyed with Dumbledore's mantra but as he began to understand its main concepts he realised its necessity.

The brewing war brought a lot of questions and worries in his mind. Deciding to find out more about it he apparated to the Leaky cauldron and went to muggle London searching for an internet cafe. Vigil had taught him all about the present digital appliances in use. After finding one nearby, he sat in front of a computer and read almost everything related to the pressing issue on the net.

What he found indeed alarmed him a lot. He didn't need any seer blood to declare that the world would be a pile of ashes within 5 years. Magical interference would not help considering that international magical relations were not that strong. And if he was correct, there has already been some magical intervention considering the unexplained inconsistencies. Had it been the 1980s, no one would have known, but with the advanced technology of 2048 in hand, remaining incognito had become very hard. The magicals had probably intervened to protect the knowledge of their existence.

The unfortunate thing was that even the strongest of magical wards would not last before a nuclear or nucleon-quark bomb. So, an end to the muggle world would also bring down the magical world.

Harry paid for his time in the cafe and took up temporary residence in a muggle hotel. He stayed there for the next three days. The only work he did was to think of ways to save the world. It was again up to him to do that, considering that the Ministries were busy trying to protect their identity. Moreover if the advanced people tracker system codenamed "Odin's Vision" was launched anytime soon, the magicals would be discovered instantly.

Harry didn't just care for himself anymore. His life philosophy had changed a lot. The Greater Good was indeed necessary. If he had the power, the skill and the capability to help, he should.

At the present moment only one idea was revolving in Harry's mind, the 'Shift'. He had come across the plan while perusing the Aryan library. It was not yet complete and unfortunately he was not skilled enough in Arithmancy to do that. He needed a lot of time and someone who could finish the designs. Time he could manage; it was the Arithmantic genius that he was short of.

Hermione's name immediately came up as a suggestion. She had completed her mastery in Arithmancy before joining Hogwarts as the Arithmancy mistress some 10 years ago. But he didn't think that she would help him after their last encounter. Well, as he couldn't possibly trust anyone else, he would have to do it himself.

Harry sighed and after gathering his things, left the hotel. He had a lot of things to do.

Harry first withdrew his entire investments which amounted to several billions of pounds. He would need money in his plan. After converting the entire sum into galleons, he collected the other essential things he would need where he was planning to go. After that he started his collection. Books, potion ingredients etc. He also bought every book he could find related to the muggle technologies. Of course he had to turn back several thousand galleons into pounds but he was satisfied with his efforts. Ten days later he was ready.

Harry was about to apparate away when he got a patronus from Hermione. She wanted to meet him. As he was already feeling a bit guilty for thinking of leaving without informing her, he readily agreed. Two hours later Harry arrived at the muggle restaurant Hermione had told him of. She was already there. He went towards her table in one of the corners and sat down at the seat opposite to hers.

Harry had expected a few tears in her face but was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't so. Hermione had a determined look on her face. He now had to find out the whats and whys.

"Hello Hermione."

"Hello Harry." She replied.

"You wanted to see me?" Harry prompted her to talk.

"Lily's dead, Harry" Hermione deadpanned.

Nothing strange there. Her death was determined the moment she got the radiation.

"When did she die?"

"Two days ago. I just arrived from her cremation ceremony."

Harry frowned. "Cremation?"

Hermione sighed wearily; apparently the tough determined look was draining her fast.

"The doctors said that it was best if a radiated body is cremated instead of buried."

Harry nodded, understanding the simple yet unnecessary reason.

"I'm sorry Hermione. When we designed the bomb, it was innovation; moreover the radiation factor was nullified by certain chemicals. The terrorists must have isolated them from the external chamber. Anyway the radiation, which spreads in a gaseous form, becomes inert after 15 minutes. Why? We never found out."

"It's not your fault Harry. I'm sorry I over reacted that day."

Harry shrugged.

"So?"

"I want in." Hermione simply said.

Harry was taken aback.

"Whoa! Where? Where do you want in?"

"I'm not a fool Harry. I know that you have a plan to save the world and I want in."

"How did you know that I was planning for such a thing?"

Hermione huffed in irritation.

"Seriously Harry, you are an open book to me. You have definitely changed in these years but still I know what you would do."

Harry smiled sheepishly before a huge grin surfaced.

"We might just yet save the world."

Hermione smiled a bit at his oldest friend as the waiter arrived with their food.

"I hope you don't mind Harry, I already ordered."

"No problem 'Mione." Harry eyed the Tandoori Chicken and added, "I haven't had Punjabi for a long time."

"What are you waiting for then? Break in!"

Harry obliged her quite happily. Hermione laughed.

Half way through the meal Harry suddenly stopped. "Thank you Hermione, for being with me. You know how I am. I need you to succeed in my plans. But know this Hermione, once it starts, we cannot abort. We are only going to get one chance to change it all."

"I know Harry. I'll always be with you. I just wish Ron was here too." Hermione added sadly.

"No power can bring back the dead Hermione. Moreover we are going to start our lives anew if the trip is successful."

"What's the plan?" Hermione asked curiously. "I thought that we were going to solve this war issue?"

"The plan is much more complicated than that Hermione. But there won't be any war if we are successful."

"And if we fail?"

"We can't afford to fail. But if we do, things will happen just the way it happened this time. But that won't be our concern anymore as we might die in case of failure."

"Just what are you trying to say? You are making it confusing." Hermione looked unconvinced as well.

"This is bigger Hermione, bigger than just stopping a war, bigger than we have ever faced. This is the right time to say if you don't want to come with me. Later you won't be able to change your mind. If you come with me the probability of the plan becoming successful increases a lot but I won't force you."

Hermione took her time before answering. "I trust you Harry. I'll come with you but there is a condition. You will have to tell me everything there is to tell. No secrets."

Harry gave her a bright smile.

"Welcome to the team then 'Mione for I wasn't going to keep anything secret."

Hermione simply smiled and they continued the rest of their lunch in silence.

They paid for it when they were done and then separated for the day. Hermione went to Hogwarts to pack up while Harry double checked everything. They met again outside Hogwarts the next morning.

"Everything ready?" Harry asked cheerfully.

"Yup. So where are we going?" Hermione asked, a bit excited. She was still hurting inside, Harry knew that. But this is going to be something big, Hermione knew that quite well. Harry could just see a bit of the old Hermione back.

He held out his hand to Hermione. As she grasped his hand, he moved closer and whispered in her ears, "Cambodia." But before Hermione could react, Harry disapparated to the mentioned place.

Hermione felt the sensation of appartion but unlike the usual short feeling, this appartion was long, almost 5 seconds. When it stopped, she felt off balance and was about to fall down when strong hands grabbed her. Harry stood beside her, surrounded by a dense forest. Hermione was puzzled. She didn't expect to be in a forest. She turned to Harry.

"Where are we Harry?"

"Impatient, aren't you. Let's walk." Harry laughed and led Hermione through the forest. "We are in the forest near Angkor Wat. You know, the-?"

"The kingdom of the Khmers. So we _are_ in Cambodia? We aren't supposed to be in some other country without permission, by the way." Hermione cut in before he could complete. Harry smiled and nodded. _Same old Hermione_. "I've always wanted to visit Angkor but why are we here? Is it essential to the plan?"

"I didn't say that we were going to Angkor, did I?" Harry replied slyly.

"Damn it Harry, you promised, no secrets." Hermione hated being out of the loop.

"Wow! The day Hermione Granger cussed. I've got to write that down." Harry cut short his laugh when he noticed the fury in her eyes.

"I am not a model teenage student anymore!" She almost shouted.

"Calm down Hermione, it's a surprise, not a secret."

Hermione calmed down a bit as her eyes grew weary, tired.

"It's just that I don't want to be surprised after what happened, Harry."

They had come to a clearing when Harry stopped, hearing Hermione. She was looking down and trying to push back the tears that were threatening to spill. Harry moved towards her and embraced her. The tears broke through.

"Shh, don't dwell in their memories, Hermione. You agreed to move past that. We are going to start our lives again, from the start. I would like to explain more but I think it's better to keep it for later. Because now" Harry moved back a bit and waved his hand to highlight what lay before them, "I present to you the lost city of Devagiri, the capital of the Aryans.

Tears immediately stopped flowing from Hermione's eyes as she viewed the almost mythical capital of the Primordial Aryan Family. Before her lay a huge lake with the bluest waters she had ever seen. The lake surrounded a hill where the city stood. At the top of the hill was a huge castle, probably large enough to house two Hogwarts castles. The entire city was in ruins but to Hermione it had a special charm because of that. To say that Hermione was awed would be an understatement.

"The lake runs around the city, the first line of defence. It is 3 km wide in an average throughout the circumference, actually, even 3.5 km in some areas. It was, is, filled with crocodiles, sharks, sea snakes and other deadly creatures to stop intruders. Only one narrow bridge connects the city with this forest. Starting from the lake boundary, there are anti-appartion, anti-portkey, anti-broom and several other security wards. So, once the bridge is broken, there is no entrance to the city, unless you want to swim of course."

"Amazing. But sharks are marine creatures, how-?"

"The Aryans were experts in almost every branch of magic. Never underestimate them. We are going to be one of them too."

"What? How can we be one of them?" Hermione was puzzled.

"Well, I'll tell you about the city later then. The plan is the priority now."

"Wait, before that, tell me how you found the city when experts had searched for it for over a millennia without any success?"

Harry laughed.

"Well it's a long story, but let me summarise it for you now. I spent 8 years under the tutelage of Guru Shankar Acharya. After my training was over he suggested me to visit ancient civilizations. He said that nuggets of knowledge can still be attained from minute observations. When I visited Angkor Wat, I felt this pull on my magic. It was very gentle yet insistent. As I couldn't detect any maliciousness, I followed it here. I managed to find out the library in the castle, which was assuredly 3 times bigger than the Hogwarts library and unblemished by age, where I found everything about the Aryans and their magic. My plan is actually one of their contingencies. Wanna see?"

Hermione nodded eagerly, enthusiasm clear on her face. Suddenly it was

"Now, as you can see, the bridge is no more. So we'll use another method of travel." Harry grabbed her and called his magic to him. Within a second they were engulfed in flames and disappeared.

Hermione tensed as she felt her body heating up. Although it was not uncomfortably hot she felt very dizzy and automatically closed her eyes. When she opened them she stood in front of huge doors inside what looked like the castle. "What was that?" She almost shrieked.

"That, my dear, was flame travel. Similar to phoenix fire travel but without a phoenix." Harry was enjoying surprising Hermione. During their school days it was always Hermione who had the answers and not he.

"Where did you learn that? Will you teach me?" Hermione asked, clearly impressed.

"Well, I got a probable theory at the Albanian University of Magic. Guru Shankar Acharya showed me the practical part. And sure I will."

"Albanian University of Magic?" Hermione was dismayed for missing a chance to visit the famous magical knowledge centre of Europe. "I knew I should have gone with you."

Harry laughed. "Don't worry Hermione, this is much better than Albania." Saying thus he pushed open the doors of the library.

As Hermione saw the sheer size of the library, her dismayed face turned giddy with excitement. The vast hall was stacked with row after row of books, the shelves almost touching the high ceiling. There were a few clearings in different parts where reading tables were laid out while the entire library was bathed in yellow light as if it was illuminated by invisible lamps.

"Welcome to the Aryan library, Hermione." Harry said with a flourish but Hermione was too busy looking at the books to see his dramatics. Harry sighed looking at Hermione in full library mode.

"Hermione." She didn't listen.

"Hermione." Same thing.

"HERMIONE!" Harry shouted.

"What?" Hermione retorted. She didn't like Harry disturbing him one bit.

"Most of the books are in Sanskrit and other old languages. You will only be able to understand the Latin ones at the moment. Moreover we will have ample time later to look at the books. They aren't running away."

"Right." Hermione replied a bit sheepishly. Harry just shook his head in amusement and led her to the private study room at the rear of the library. He offered her a seat and took one himself. He gathered his thoughts.

"So?" Hermione prompted.

Thinking that Hermione would better understand the actual designs of the plan, he took out the charts he had prepared, from the nearby drawer and presented them to Hermione. It took her some time to fully understand it but when she did, she was shocked.

"Is it even possible?"

"It is, Hermione. But as you can see, the formulas are incomplete. It needs some more work."

"What I don't understand is how can you be so sure that it is possible when the design itself is incomplete?" Hermione looked at him as if he was mad.

"Because it was purposefully left like that." Harry replied with a smirk before continuing. "The incomplete formulas are the parts erased away. The way I see it, it is the only chance of long lasting peace."

"How Harry?"

"Think Hermione, since the start there has always been a conflict between the non-magicals and magicals. It's not an issue that can be solved by discussing openly. The non-magicals are unsure of us, they fear us. But it's not their fault, its human nature; we always fear what we don't know. Remember the witch burnings in the medieval age? The situation is still the same. Magicals are viewed as freaks of nature. We are abominations in their eyes, not gifted. There can be only one solution to it, total separation and this plan might just do that."

"I understand your reasoning Harry, but what about the muggleborns?"

"We can take care of the details on the way but first we need to get away from this time. The muggles were developing."

"Don't tell me you have the means to time-travel. You do?" Hermione added in shock noticing Harry's smug look.

"The Aryan library has a lot of secrets."

"Enough. Tell me where the Sanskrit manuals are."

Harry laughed.

"There are no manuals Hermione. It's a University level library not school level. However as I'll need two days to make the preparations for the time travel, I'll give you my memories of the time when I learnt it."

Harry conjured a small glass jar and the pulled out copies of selected memories. After storing them in the jar, he gave it to Hermione.

"I'm going to get the required materials for the ritual and food for two days. We go back in time day after tomorrow. In the meanwhile look though the memories. There is a pensive in the upper closet."

"I'm so excited." Harry smiled. It was good to have the old enthusiastic Hermione back. But then, she said it. "We're going to see Ron again and in a few years even Rose, Hugo and Lily. Thank you Harry, for giving me another chance.

Harry was frozen. Hermione had it all wrong. But how to tell her? She looked ecstatic at a probable chance to see her family again. _But who wouldn't?_ A part of him asked.

"You are mistaken Hermione." Harry said softly.

"Mistaken? Why?" Hermione's happy look changed to confusion.

"When I said that we would be starting our new lives, I didn't mean with them."

"You didn't?" Hermione looked a bit fearful as well as disappointed.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Hermione but I did mean it when I asked you to move on. We won't be going back to our past. We are going before that, to the year 1950. We'll need about ten years to get ready. So we'll start our new lives there at around 1960. By new lives I mean new looks, new identity, new history. We will cease to exist as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger."

"But why? We could change so much. We know Voldemort's secret. We'll be able to end him before he strikes and your plans would also be completed by the time we need it." Hermione asked frantically.

"Not everything is about us or Voldemort, Hermione. Shall I remind you the problem we are facing now? Detection by the muggles, not crazy evil dark lords. But you are right we should stop Voldemort too. But stopping him after his reincarnation won't be enough. People like Malfoy will remain the same. Voldemort showed the pureblood extremists a way. What makes you think that there won't be any more dark lords after him? What makes you think that they will leave the muggles alone? If we talk about my plans with them in such a situation, do you think that they will agree?

"If we follow _your_ plan Hermione, we will only be starting a war against all the muggles. The purebloods will never agree to move away and like it or not they _are_ the backbone of the wizarding world."

Hermione huffed in anger. "I don't agree. You are talking like a typical pureblood, Harry."

Harry sighed. It will be difficult to change Hermione viewpoints.

"Okay Hermione. Let's do one thing. We'll go to 1950 as per my plan and in the meantime you try your best to become proficient in Sanskrit. There are a few books here that I would like you to read. After reading those books if you still want to go to the 1990s, I won't object. You can do whatever you want to do there. Just remember, you will still be 66 when you get back. Ron will just be a child there. You will be there too, your younger self I mean and the interesting thing is you can't be seen by those who recognize you."

"What? Are you sure?" Hermione asked, hurt clear in her eyes. It was then Harry realised that he had been harsh.

"Yes Hermione, I am." Harry replied gently. "That is why I told you about starting our lives anew. After the time travel _we_ will be not be Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Time-travel does not place us back as we were in a certain time. It's not like rewinding a disk. For example if you go back to our fourth year during the time of the Tri-wizard tournament, it will be in the form you are in right now. The Hermione Granger of our fourth year will remain the same. If the theory is correct, you won't be Hermione Granger anymore, just a non-entity, a living body and you won't be able to influence her life directly."

Hermione nodded.

"Trust me on this Hermione, you don't want to go there. Imagine how difficult it would be, seeing all of our loved ones again but not being able to tell them who we are. And the drawback of the ritual is that um- you cannot go to the future as it is not yet set."

Hermione looked at him incredulously. "Then how would I have gone to 1990 from 1950?"

"Uh- waited it out?" Harry replied sheepishly but seeing Hermione turn cationic he held out his hands in placating manner.

"Hold it Hermione. The reason I want to go back to the 1950's is because we'll have ample time to mould the opinions of the people in the right direction before Voldemort starts influencing them. I know for certain that he would come back to Britain after 1969. So we'll have 9 years of new life, friends and challenges before his arrival. After disposing him off, we'll continue with our new lives. And if everything goes well we'll be able to see our old families in one or two decades."

Hermione's rage lessened considerably and she was silent for a while. She had been looking down the entire time Harry explained. When she finally met his eyes, there was a fierce determination in those brown orbs.

"I will stay by your side Harry, I did promise you that. I don't understand everything now and I believe you have a lot more to tell me. But no matter what, I'll support you, just like the old days. After all how can I desert my only brother in all but blood?"

Harry smiled, gratitude and affection clear in his eyes.

"Thanks a lot Hermione. I promise, I'll never keep anything from you."

"No, thank _you_ Harry, for giving me another chance at life."

"Say, would you like to be my sister for real?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione was perplexed.

"Just give me the answer Hermione. Would you?"

"Of course. We stay together, right?"

"Of course. Study those memories Hermione and learn the language. I'll do the rest for now."

Two days later the duo was in the ritual chamber. Every surface of the room was filled with drawings of various runes in some reddish-black ink. Hermione could recognise some of the Sanskrit and Norse runes but everything else was new to her. In the centre of the room was a large circle surrounded by a hexagon which in turn connected the runes on the floor, the walls and the ceiling in series. Hermione turned to Harry.

"What now Harry?"

"Well first you need to help me put these inside me, and your wand of course." He indicated to his wand and three matchbox sized objects and removed his shirt.

Hermione didn't understand. "What do you mean inside you?"

"Well," Harry explained, "The time travel ritual only transports living things. So I can't simply put these in my pockets during the ritual. Now, I would have simply swallowed them but the trunks are lined with lead to avoid its contents from interfering with the ritual. And frankly speaking, I don't want lead in my stomach. So you will have to put them under my skin, your wand included."

"Skin?" Hermione looked horrified.

"Don't fret Hermione, I'm used to pain. Just follow my lead, Okay?"

Hermione nodded uneasily.

Harry wandlessly made three rectangular cuts on his left arm and then smoothly peeled of the skin covering it. Hermione was shocked to see Harry skinning himself without even wincing. Truth be told, she felt queasy after looking him do that.

"Quick now Hermione, pour the blue potion over the open flesh." Harry indicated to one of the potion vials by his side and Hermione obliged.

"Good, now place the boxes there and pour the red potion over it." As Hermione did that Harry began to chant in a low voice and within 30 seconds the wounds had closed, new skin stretched over matchbox sized mounds.

"Now, for the wands. Make a long shallow vertical cut on each side of my vertebral column, long enough to hold our wands, put our wands over the cuts and then pour the red potion over it. No need to use the blue potion this time."

"Done. See? It was very easy." Harry said jovially as Hermione finished doing the minor operation.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "You have a lot to tell me Harry. You can start after the ritual on how you had that level of pain tolerance."

Harry chuckled. "Of course Hermione. I promised, no secrets."

"Good, what next?"

"It's simple now. We lie down inside the circle. The ritual is designed to start automatically within the next 2 minutes."

Hermione did so and Harry joined her after closing the door properly. They could see the runes starting to glow in various colours as the room began to fill up with magic. They could feel the room saturating.

Hermione grasped Harry's hand as the room heated up.

"I forgot to mention two things Hermione." Harry said.

"What?"

"It might be a little painful and…"

"And what, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"We'll be naked when we arrive."

Hermione didn't have any time to retort as it started then; excruciating pain tearing her apart. She had faced Bellatrix's Cruciatius before but it was a love tap in comparison to the pain she was feeling at the moment. She screamed her throat raw but instead of lessening, the pain increased with time till she couldn't take anymore and blacked out.

\m/\m/\m/

A/N: Hehehe, I love Cliffhangers. Don't forget to make it fav or comment! PM me if you want to BETA it.

ArunabhAryan out \m/

…To be continued


	2. Chapter 2- A start in the past

Chapter 2- The start in the past

 _ **Recall:**_

" _We'll be naked when we arrive."_

 _Hermione didn't have any time to retort as it started then; excruciating pain tearing her apart. She had faced Bellatrix's Cruciatius before but it was a love tap in comparison to the pain she was feeling at the moment. She screamed her throat raw but instead of lessening, the pain increased with time till she couldn't take anymore and blacked out._

\m/\m/\m/

When Hermione regained consciousness, she found herself on the same bed and in the same room she had occupied last night. _Was it last night?_ She remembered the excruciating pain and her subsequent black out. _Were they in 1950 or had the ritual failed?_ Hermione did a mental scan and noticed that her memory was alright. However, she was wearing a new set of clothes. _Harry must have changed them,_ she thought _._ Harry's last words before she had blacked out suddenly came to her mind. She also remembered screaming her throat raw but it didn't feel sore or anything. Definitely Harry work.

Hermione rose from her bed, took her wand from the bedside table and did a quick tempus charm. 08:07, 14:08:1950. Yup, they were in the correct year after all. She now had to find out where Harry was. He had a lot to tell her.

She visited the library first, it was still the same. However there was no Harry. She had half a mind to start studying immediately but as Harry had the plans, she decided to confer with him first.

Guessing that Harry would be in some other part of the castle, she left the library and began exploring. After an hour of walking through various corridors and ascending hundreds of steps she realized why the Aryans were loved, respected and even feared at their prime. The castle was a marvel. It was designed to be impregnable. Even their ruins screamed power. Their excellence in magic was obvious considering the wealth of knowledge stored at the library. They really were one of a kind.

Hermione ascended some more stairs and found herself at the top of the castle. The castle had a total of 11 floors in the main structure, the outer structures reached a height of 8 floors. The sight which greeted Hermione was mesmerizing. The height of the castle combined with the height of the hill on which it stood gave her a bird's eye view of the entire region. She saw Harry sitting on a stone bench near the edge of the floor. She quietly joined him.

Both were aware of each other's presence but remained quiet, admiring the view until Harry broke the silence. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"It is." Hermione agreed.

They remained silent for another minute before Harry broke the silence again. "We start again from today Hermione. Are you with me?"

Hermione nodded. Harry turned a bit towards her, Hermione mirrored his actions.

"We tried changing things last time Hermione, especially in the Ministry. But we were unsuccessful. Both of us left the ministry for that very reason."

"I tried a lot Harry, but I couldn't do much." Harry nodded. He knew why that happened.

"I have a question. The corruption existed during the time of Dumbledore. But did it exist during the time of Voldemort?"

Hermione pondered, "It would be hard to determine considering that we were on the run for most of the time."

"I'll tell you the truth then, it was almost non-existent."

Hermione was astounded. "How?"

"Fear." Harry simply said.

Hermione's eyes widened comically as she realized what Harry had said. She knew fear was a very good motivator, if not the best. Suddenly a lot of things became clear to her. Things like why they were in Aryan territory and why Harry had told her that they would be a part of the Primordial Family soon. She also realized why she couldn't change anything of significance at the Ministry. She had knowledge but not the power to back it. She was a muggleborn and no matter how good she became she wouldn't be able to bring any worthwhile change as she was an outsider. People like Malfoy could do it with very less difficulty as they were in the main system and as Harry put it, part of the _backbone of the Magical community._ Hermione looked at Harry. He had been right all the time.

"We have been doing it the wrong way."

Harry nodded.

"You said that we would start our new lives, would it be as Aryans?"

Harry smiled. "I knew you would figure it out. That is one of the reasons why I brought you with me."

Hermione smiled back. "What were the other reasons?"

"That I would need help in this mission? That I love you too much to abandon you in a world about to be destroyed?"

Tears slowly came unbidden in Hermione's eyes. Harry had never confided like this to her before. She knew that he loved her but never actually realized what it meant to both of them. They had faced a lot together but Harry was never this expressive before.

She hugged him tightly. A part of her realized that they had a huge project ahead of them considering that Harry felt the need to be so open but she put those thoughts aside at the moment and concentrated in the hug. Harry returned the hug wholeheartedly.

After a while they separated.

"It's only us now Hermione. We have to do it for everyone's sake now. We'll have status, power and money to back us this time."

Hermione nodded, steeling her resolve. "What's the plan?"

Harry started explaining. "We'll be the new Aryan siblings. Being a Primordial family, we will get a lot of chances to remodel the world without much resistance. But we need to start young. That is why I'll create two bodies for us." Harry held out his hand to stop Hermione from interrupting. "They will take almost 9 years to reach the stage we require. In the mean time I will instruct you in the different forms of magic I have learned. By the time you are ready you should be almost as powerful as Dumbledore. You will also have another thing to do; make those designs complete. Any questions?"

"A lot. Would it be polite or even appropriate to take the name of Aryan? What about its mythical family magic? I understand the need to start young, we'll be able to influence the younger generation in a much better way. But what bodies are you talking about?"

Harry laughed. Leave it to Hermione to think about things like politeness. Hermione arched her eyebrow in confusion.

"We won't be hijacking an important title, Hermione." Harry explained. "Do you remember when I said that I felt a pull on my magic and discovered this place?" Hermione nodded. "I searched the library for a possible cause and found it in the Aryan Family Chronicles. It was supposedly prophesized that _only the one who had knowledge and qualities similar to a true Aryan could resurface the family to its previous glory if the line ends. That person, along with the ones he calls family will automatically gain allegiance of the Aryan Family Magic and bring about world peace until the time of the next heir approaches._ "

Hermione palmed her face in mock distress. "Another prophecy. Great."

Harry chuckled. "Don't worry Hermione, the true meaning of this prophecy has been proven over time."

"You mean, what we are going to do has happened before?" Hermione looked a bit skeptical.

"Yes, other families have taken over the mantle of this House although not in the way we are going to. But we will be the fourth family to do so."

"What were the names of the other families before they became Aryans? By the way how can one simply become an Aryan?"

"Only they knew, Hermione. There are records of how the families got the Aryan name but no record of their original names. Even this bit of information is only available to the Aryan heads. The philosophy is that once you become an Aryan you cease to be what you were before. You'll get more information in the library. And as for becoming an Aryan, there is a blood ritual. The blood of the last Aryan lord and his lady is in a specially made room next to the private reading room in stasis. Normally one would simply have to use a mix of the blood in an inheritance ritual but for us it will be a bit difficult as the ritual does not change our age, just modifies our body and magic a bit. So we'll have to create the bodies, resembling our 16 year old selves. And as I said before we ceased to be Harry Potter and Hermione Granger the moment we arrived here. You have to choose a name. I already chose one."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Ares James Aryan." Harry/Ares smirked. "What about you?"

Hermione thought for some time. "Well, if you are Ares, I guess Athena would suit me as we are to become siblings."

Harry smirked again and teased her. "You had to choose Athena eh, goddess of Wisdom?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Says the idiot who chose Ares, the god of War."

The new Ares made a face of mock outrage. "I am not an idiot."

Unable to hold herself at the made-up face Athena burst out laughing and was joined by Ares.

"I like it. Athena- Goddess of Wisdom and War strategy, sister of Ares- God of War and Bloodlust. What about your middle name?"

"Lillian?" Hermione queried. Harry smiled. His new sister had chosen the name of her once daughter as her middle name just like he had chosen his father's.

"Deal. Athena Lillian Aryan, pleased to meet you. I am Ares James Aryan, at your service." Ares gave her a bow. Athena followed his lead and curtsied. She extended her hand which Ares kissed. "Pleased to make you acquaintance, my lord."

Ares and Athena looked at each other silently before they burst out in laughter, again.

"My, my Her-Athena, I didn't know that you were accustomed to proper pureblood etiquette." Ares chortled as Athena snorted.

"Pureblood etiquette is similar to the ones followed by the nobility, nothing I don't know."

"Snorting doesn't suit a lady of your stature Athena. You will, after all be a daughter of the Primordial House of Aryan." Ares laughed.

"Well I'm not an Aryan yet, so…"

"Alright then," Ares said after controlling his laughter. "The rest of the plan goes as follows: We join Hogwarts as 6th year students in 1960, socialize, and make new friends and alliances as we build out power. Once we are strong enough we deliver the first blow, removal of the goblins."

"The goblins? Why?" Athena asked.

"Well, it's a long story. The shortest description would be that they are the reason why the Aryan family went extinct. I am going to bring back the dwarves in their stead."

"The dwarves ran Gringotts earlier?" Athena certainly didn't get that information in any library.

Ares sighed. He knew he had to explain, there would be no stalling her.

"Okay, let's start at the beginning. The Aryan family started sometime in the 8th millennium BC. They started the magical version of the Vedic civilization. They were the first magicals that lived together in the form of a family. Before that most magicals were nomads and lived alone. They were the first to create a proper and efficient language and script for recording their history and magic. They taught magic to the gifted, they started the magical civilization.

Oldest written records of the Aryans start in 7083 BC, that's when they created their script, an older version of Sanskrit. Their civilization turned into the first magical empire in 5674 BC when they allied with the dwarves and several other magical races and families that had emerged by then.

This magical empire flourished. The Aryan Head of Family was the Supreme Warlord, the Emperor equivalent in their civilization. Magicals were sought out from all over the world and taught about their gifts. They made alliances with several families outside Eurasia and the magical culture and trade expanded. The Black Phoenix Guards, their elite military force, took care of the protection of the people in the empire. They also assisted the allied families in difficulties. Maintaining magical secrecy was one of the points they emphasized as people fear what they don't know and they didn't want any bloodshed over that issue later.

Aryans didn't actually favour a monarchical system. As the title of warlord suggest, they actually took care of the military and research, more like the heading the DMLE and DoM rather than being Minister. There was an elected body of mages who took care of the administration, i.e. democracy in its early form. There were equal rights for everyone, even non-magicals of the family who later started the non-magical components of their race. They migrated from their hidden abode in central Eurasia to different parts of the world and started the Vedic civilization. Intermingling of Aryan blood with other races brought diversity and new variations. It strengthened their family further.

Although strong, the Aryan family never strayed away from their path of righteousness, if it can be called that. They have always been neutral, taking the best from all kinds of magic and were considered to be the seneschals of Good. They led every fight against Evil be it on the battlefield or the political arena. They were the patrons of knowledge and learning. They believed that knowledge itself is not evil as it cannot manifest on its own. The intent of the person using the knowledge is what matters most.

Courage, nobility, chivalry, loyalty, eruditeness and shrewdness were the common characteristics of each Aryan. They were never shy of hard work and were extremely loyal to family and friends. When it came to magical strengths, they were a class apart from other magicals. Almost 80% of the Aryan Lords were elementals or had a strong affinity to a certain element. The rest were powerful and mighty in their own right.

They were the first to discover experimentally that a person had a higher probability of being magically stronger if both the parents were magical. This was the basis on which the pureblood supremacy notion started. Of course the extremists conveniently developed the theory further on baseless things and even resorted to inbreeding later to keep their bloodline pure and stronger. Apparently the extremists forgot that the same Aryan researcher had also said that the vigour and strength of the offsprings decreases if their parental links become closer over time.

The family despised such notions and had crushed more than a dozen extremist rebellions mercilessly. They considered such disparity and inequality to be the roots of Evil and hence gave no quarter to the people fighting for such ideals.

The Aryans held the reigns of intercultural peace for almost 9 millennia. But things changed after 962 AD. The Aryans had continuously assisted the dwarves in defending their keep from the greedy goblins, the darker and comparatively less useful versions of the dwarves. However, the goblins bred much faster than dwarves. Tired of war, a treaty was signed between the leaders of the three races. As per the treaty, the goblins were given the right to work as bankers replacing the dwarves. As a gesture of goodwill the entire Aryan account was transferred to Gringotts from the dwarf bank. Everything was alright till 965 when disaster stroke. As there were no family records after that I guessed it was then that Devagiri was attacked and the library's Secure Mode was triggered, a contingency to preserve the knowledge if the castle was forcefully breached. Only someone of the current warlord's blood and true to the family cause would be able to open the library then along with the next heir.

I later discovered the real story in a diary left by the granddaughter of the then Aryan lord. Apparently she had escaped the slaughter and visited the castle later to make sure that the next heir knew the truth."

"What happened?" Athena asked. She had been hanging on to everything Ares said.

"The goblins dishonoured the treaty. They had plotted with some families disgruntled with the Aryan Warlord-ship and had attacked with a large force in the dead of the night. The Aryans fought hard but were eventually overwhelmed. Every single member of the family was killed, except the granddaughter of course, who escaped somehow. The citizens of Devagiri weren't spared either.

The granddaughter left a request on the diary too, a request to the next heir; 'To destroy the usurpers and to show no mercy when the family rose again.' We are going to honour that request."

"What about the dwarves? Why didn't they help?"

"The attackers cut off all ways of contact to any outside help. By the time the Aryans managed to send a distress signal, the goblin allied force had almost won. But the dwarves didn't fare much better. Without the Aryans to lead, the huge alliance of mostly light-sided races like dwarves, elves and centaurs broke. The elves disappeared completely while the centaurs took a neutral position and have been like that ever since. The dwarves were targeted next and clans after clans were wiped out till they supposedly became extinct."

"Supposedly?"

"It is mentioned in her diary that the dwarves had faked extinction and had retired to their protected underground citadels awaiting the next heir."

"So you plan to seek them out?" Athena asked.

"Yes, but not yet. They cannot see me in this form. These ten years we will only prepare ourselves. Alright?"

Athena nodded.

"But I have to ask something first. What are your feelings on what we are planning to do?"

Athena took her time before answering. "I can only say that it is a great honour and responsibility. I welcome the opportunity with open arms. There will be a lot of stakes on how we act. But aside that I have no worries. I'll stay by your side Ares as I always have."

"Thank you Athena. But you need not worry at all. The Aryan blood will ensure that we don't have to act at all. We are still having this feeling that we are actually Harry and Hermione right? After we change the bodies, it will be a foreign concept to us. We will genuinely become Athena and Ares Aryan. I mean, even records of our existence will be automatically created in the concerned places. We will _belong_ in this time."

Athena looked awed. Ares chuckled. Earlier it was the opposite.

"Let's get started." Athena eagerly rose and almost ran downstairs to the library.

 _ **9 years later… 15**_ _ **th**_ _ **July, 1959**_

Athena was walking downstairs towards the dungeons where Ares had established his laboratories. He had constantly denied her the permission to see what he was doing in his lab all these years. Athena had tried several tricks to make him change his standbut to no avail. Today, however, he had agreed and Athena was visiting with a curious disposition.

She had guessed that Ares was making their new bodies. However how he could create or even change a body failed to enter her scope of understanding. Ares had also kept mum saying that it was a surprise.

Athena trusted him. Ares had helped her a lot to get over the death of her family members. In the last nine years he had taught her a lot. Combined with her studious nature, she had now become a force to be reckoned with. Although she knew that she couldn't overpower him ever, she was confident that she could easily duel Dumbledore and probably win it.

Athena knocked at the door which Ares had directed her to. It was promptly opened and Ares ushered her in. Athena noticed that the room was very sparsely decorated. She sat on a sofa while Ares took the armchair.

"You have been wondering perhaps, what I was doing here?" Ares started.

Athena nodded. "I believe you were preparing our new bodies?"

"Right you are Athena. But before I show you your new form I have to explain a few things. You once asked me how we could change bodies. Have you found out the answer?"

Athena shook her head in negative.

"You would have if you had studied the dark arts like I told you to" Ares sighed as he thought to himself. Despite being able to convince her that magic was simply a tool, he couldn't convince her to study the dark arts deeply like he did at Albania. She did learn them superficially but never attempted any even once. Ares continued anyway.

"I believe you know what actually makes a person alive?"

Athena nodded this time. "Body and Soul."

"Correct. However, the interesting thing is that we are not our bodies. We are the souls. Our body is just a container that tethers us to this plane of the Earth. Without an anchor or a body we cannot interact with this plane. That is why when our body stops working, we die. It doesn't mean that the souls are dead, just that we cannot interact with the world again."

Athena frowned. "How do you know?"

"Well, the answer was always in front of me although it took me several years to recognise it. Do you remember what happened after Voldemort hit me with the Killing curse in the Forbidden forest?"

"Yes, you told me that you met Dumbledore in a replica of the Kings Cross station. But how is this relevant Ares?" Athena was confused now.

Ares smiled. "What does the killing curse do, my dear?"

"It severs the bond between the body and soul. But- … oh." A look of understanding reached her eyes. "Are you saying that your soul was temporarily dislodged from your body?"

"Exactly. The AK dislodged me as well as the soul fragment of Voldy. The Dumbledore I met was the soul-Dumbledore. He said that choosing the train depends on me. I believe he meant that I could either leave my body completely or return to it. I chose to return. He also said that although the conversation took place in my mind it didn't mean that it was unreal. I believe that he couldn't tell us about the souls talking due to some reason. That's why he simply left a clue."

Athena still looked a bit sceptical. "It seems probable but where is the proof?"

"We'll only get the proof when we die, otherwise there would already have been several books on the topic. But if we remove the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth no matter how improbable it might seem. And as the mind cannot simply fabricate knowledge of its own, I believe that to be truth."

Athena was silent for a while before assenting with Ares. "You are probably right, as always. So how do we change anchors?"

"There is a runic ritual which would capture the soul once it leaves the body and transfer it to the next body. The process is similar to the creation of a horcrux. However there are a few differences. The entire soul is transferred instead of a piece and we only have to AK each other."

Hearing the similarity with a horcrux, Athena would have angrily berated Ares in the past. But now she knew that if he had selected something, it was probably the best way to do it.

"Alright. When and how do we do it?"

Ares smiled. "We will do it now. Follow me."

Ares led Athena to one of the adjoining rooms. The room was quite large and filled with different digital appliances, gadgets one could find in a 2045 muggle lab. Athena never knew that Ares had brought these things with him. Suddenly she remembered the moment before time travelling. Ares had told her that the trunks he had brought were lead lined. Now she realised why. Lead prevents magical interference in digital appliances. She observed the walls of the room carefully. The white walls had a metallic shine in them.

"Lead lined room?" Athena asked Ares.

"Yes." Ares simply replied.

There were two large oval boxes made of some metal in the centre of the room. Athena noticed that they were connected by several chains of runes. Ares went towards the left one and pressed a button on it. The upper surface opened slowly to reveal a wooden bed where numerous runes were carved. Ares took off his shoes and laid down on the bed. Immediately straps appeared around him binding him to the bed as it moved to a vertical state. Athena guessed that the new body was in the other box.

"Do you see that green button on the panel in that wall?" Ares asked, indicating the button in question.

Athena nodded and moved towards it.

"Good. When you press that button, the runes will be charged. AK me within ten seconds after that. I'll see you again in another form."

Athena smiled nervously. What if something wrong happens and Ares dies in reality?

No. She would not become weak at the crucial point. She would trust his calculations. Steeling herself she pressed the green button and immediately cast the killing curse for the first time. Ares had taught her how to do it along with many other dark arts.

Athena saw the life leaving his body as the green curse struck. Suddenly the lid of the other contained opened with a hiss and a lot of steam escaped the confines of the box. Athena was rooted to the spot as the body lying inside stirred and rose unsteadily after a few moments.

"Athena?" He queried in a rasp.

That was all that took her running towards the 15 year old boy in front of her and hugging him as if there was no tomorrow.

"Oh, Ares, I was so worried. Are you alright?"

Athena moved away a bit to properly take in the sight before her. Ares' new form was about 5'10'' in height and of the build of an athlete. As he was only wearing a knee length trouser she could see the lean muscles and six packs on his body. His skin tone was lighter than before. However the main changes were in his face. It was much more aristocratic than before and bore no resemblance to the Potter family. The wild hair was gone, replaced by a smooth black tuft. His eyes were still green but of a slightly darker shade. Earlier they were just a notable feature of his, now they were mesmerizing. A quick glance would indicate an extremely handsome and desirable boy but only a detailed study would portray him as the deadly hunter he actually was. The bright green orbs exuded power, his stance confidence.

"Well, all the organs and senses seem to be working perfectly. I just need to get used to it." Ares' voice lost the hoarseness gradually and Athena realised that it was a bit deeper and yet smoother than before.

"So," Ares asked, "How do I look?"

Athena laughed. "You know that you look good. But I am sure that you won't have any deficiency of girlfriends in Hogwarts."

Ares simply smirked before leading her back to the drawing room and then to another adjoining room. This room was similar to the earlier one except that one part of the room was covered by a curtain. Athena looked at Ares quizzically.

Ares gave her a sheepish smile before saying, "I thought that you would like to see yourself properly so I kept your new body naked on the other box. There is a mirror inside too along with clothes."

"Oh Ares, you think a lot. Thank you." Athena gave him a fond smile. She went towards the other box and pressed the button on it just like Ares had. She then laid down on the wooden bed. After she was properly strapped in and the bed became vertical Ares charged the runes and AKed her.

Athena's senses extinguished immediately and suddenly she felt very light, as if she were a feather. As she started to drift upwards she felt a strong tug in her navel just like a portkey before all her senses returned to her. She smelled the remains of a few preservative gases and heard Ares's new voice.

"Are you alright Athena?"

She moved her hand a bit and felt the smooth bed sheet and soft mattress below her. She opened her eyes and found her sight better than before, as if an HD print was upgraded to 4K quality.

"I think so." She slowly replied to Ares's question and found a drastic change in her voice. Earlier it was nothing exceptional but now it was almost musical. Wondering what her body looked like she steadily got up and looked at the mirror by her side. To say that Athena was shocked would be an understatement. Ares had really over done it.

She was easily 2 inches taller than her original 5'7'' height. Her face had aristocratic features similar to Ares but with a more feminine side. Her eyes were a deep sea blue, a shade she had never seen in any human eyes and she had long lustrous straight black hair. Her body was built to perfection, not a single spot or blemish covering it. Even if she was being modest she could easily say she was extremely beautiful and that a common person would mistake her for a Veela.

In short, she was very satisfied with her new body. She didn't know how but somehow Ares had modelled her new body in a fashion she wanted in one of her teenage fantasies. He had probably picked it up from her mind sometime while teaching advanced occlumency.

She noticed that unlike Ares' new body which radiated a sense of strength and power, she radiated beauty and delicacy. Ares designed himself as the powerful lord that he was, the Alpha of the alphas and her as the exquisite sister to the Lord, a woman men would gladly die for. Both of them were alluring in their own way but deadly at the same time. Her respect for Ares increased a few notches for this extraordinary creation.

'Astir maana vereor'- the family motto combining Old Norse, Sanskrit and Latin respectively meant love, respect and fear. Their appearance alone would do a lot to obtain that that. No. Not _the_ family, it's _her_ family now, an inside voice immediately corrected. She guessed that this was what Aryan meant about the blood taking care of their act. They _were_ the Aryans now and hence it wouldn't be called an act.

Athena Lillian Aryan donned the robes her new brother had provided and came out from the curtains. She noticed that her movements somehow felt more fluidic and elegant. Ares was watching her with an expectant face. She noticed that he had put on a shirt. She didn't say anything, just hugged her brother. After a few moments in his strong arms she left the embrace whispering a thanks in his ears.

A bright smile lit Ares eyes. "I guess you like your new self?"

"I love it. Thanks again Ares." Athena happily replied. "Did you pick up the image from my mind earlier?"

Ares gave her a sheepish grin and nodded. "I modified a few things of course."

"What and how? You never taught me these things." Athena eyed him a bit accusingly.

Ares laughed. "I'll tell you now my dear. But let's get comfortable first."

Both of them went back to the drawing room and seated themselves comfortably.

"Okay brother, start yakking." Athena demanded in her no nonsense way.

Ares laughed. He really loved it when she demanded some information of him. Instead of irritating him, it reminded that he had someone close to him who had the right to act so. It made him aware of family. Moreover it would be impossible to get angry at the new musical voice.

*I made some very obvious changes. Can't you recognise it?* Ares asked in parseltongue.

Athena thought hard but couldn't single out any changes aside her until Ares laughed and told her to think and observe.

Observe?

Then she realised it, Ares was hissing and she understood it. That meant only one thing. She could speak parseltongue. Excited at being able to do so Athena spoke, "I can speak parseltongue?"

Ares smiled. *You can Athena, but you are not speaking it at the moment.*

"And now?" She asked. Ares shook his head.

Athena was disappointed. What use is a language if you can't speak it?

* Don't be disappointed, Athena. Parseltongue is not like other languages. It is a genetic trait. That is why it only ever runs in families. Moreover in the first stages it can only be used to talk to snakes. Remember, in our second year when I realised the ability I could only speak to snakes? The only reason I am able to speak it now is because I have experience with it. Don't worry, I tweaked the genes a bit. You will be able to converse with me in it soon enough if you practise talking to a snake. Your mind will need to recognise it as a language and not as a genetic trait.*

Athena nodded. "I'll practise it later then. What other changes have you made?"

"I experimented with the genes of a Veela. I isolated the genes responsible for their extraordinary beauty and allure and inserted them in our genome."

"I didn't know that it was possible to do so." Athena frowned, trying to remember any knowledge regarding genetical science.

"Oh, it isn't." Ares smirked. "But if you build everything from scratch, it is quite possible."

Athena was surprised. "You never cease to amaze me Ares. So technically you are my creator?"

"I am the creator of both of us, if that makes any sense."

The siblings laughed.

"So you get Veela like beauty. However I tweaked it in a way that you could only switch on the allure in the most desperate of situations so that you don't get into trouble because of it. Along with it our bodies are much stronger and durable. We'll heal twice as fast and our magic sustaining capacity is unbelievingly more. Our senses will become three times sharper with the release of adrenalin in our blood, so sharper battle reflexes. Moreover I made these changes hereditary. In other words we are a new breed of humans. And from tomorrow we start to actually know our body and its limits."

Athena acquiesced.

"Do you know one thing Ares?"

"What?"

"Moldyfarts won't stand a chance again us."

The siblings fell into another bout of laughter.

 _ **19 June, 1960**_

"Are you ready Athena?" Ares knocked at her door.

"Almost." Athena shouted from inside her room. A minute later she emerged from her room in a form fitting blue dress that matched wonderfully with her eyes. It was simple yet made her look gorgeous. During the last year she had matured a bit and now looked even more beautiful than before.

A thing Ares had always admired in Athena was that she never took much time in trivial things like make-up, dressing up and whatever other girly things there were. However he did find her present attire a bit unsuitable for the event in hand. They were about to go get their wands not attend a party.

Seeing Ares look at her dress in a disapproving way Athena laughed. Ares had become the brother she always wanted over the last year, loving and protective. Although she had always thought of him as a brother, her connection with him deepened tenfold after they changed their body and became true Aryans.

"Don't look at me like that Ares. Do I look ugly?"

Ares eyed his sister as if she had gone barmy. "You know very well that you would look good even in rags, Athena. But I am confused. Why this getup?"

Athena smiled. "To start my image of course. You designed me like this for this very reason, didn't you?"

Ares frowned. That was actually the truth. He had indeed made her features as beautiful as he could for that purpose. People tended to follow a beautiful person eagerly rather than a plain or ugly one. But now he was a bit reluctant to do so. She was his sister and he didn't want to use or endanger her in anyway.

Seeing his hesitation Athena realised his problem. His increased love and protectiveness for her forbade him to do as per his original plans. She approached him and took his hand in hers.

"I know you don't want to use me Ares, but I am more than capable of doing what you have planned. I am a very powerful witch, you trained me yourself for ten years. Moreover I'll never be in any danger. I just have to build up a reputation of being a very capable witch along with an enchantress and for that I need to look my best everywhere we go."

Ares grudgingly agreed. He took her hand and apparated away.

"Where are we Ares?" Athena asked her brother eyeing the beautiful country landscape. Ares had just apparated them to the place and was now leading her up through a mountainous pathway.

"Well, we need our true wands. We are here to get them made." Ares replied.

True wands? Athena was puzzled. "But Ares, we already have our wands. And where is 'here'?"

Ares smiled. "Our wands are attuned to our old bodies and magic. We need a perfect match now to perform some of the more powerful spells with minimal effort. And we are in China, Athena. Chu Ling is one of the pioneers in the art of Wandlore." He then explained a bit about the wand maker.

Ling was the most respected wand-maker in Central Asia. He only made custom wands for those he thought to be good wizards or witches in the making. Ling was one of the many wand-makers who had experimented in dual-core wands but was the only one to succeed. The fact that the wand combusted after a few hours was a completely different issue.

After walking for a few minutes, they reached their destination, a small cottage surrounded by a dense foliage. Ares took the lead and knocked at the door. A minute later the door was opened by a very old man. The man eyed the foreigners curiously.

"Mr. Ling?" Ares asked.

"Yes. And who might you be young man?" The man replied in surprisingly accent less English.

"I am Ares Aryan and this is my sister Athena. We would like you to make our wands."

Ling's eyebrow rose a bit at the mention of the Aryan name but didn't comment anything on it.

"You don't have wands yet? How old are you kids? And why are you alone so far away from home?"

Athena became a bit worried at the questioning but Ares merely smiled. He had expected such questions. Athena knew that her brother was a bit skilled in Wandlore but was definitely not a wand maker and they needed the best wands one could afford.

"We do, Mr. Ling." Ares replied. "But they do not feel the same they used to, probably due some change in our magic. As to our age, my sister is 16 while I'm almost 16. And we are alone so far away from home because our parents are dead. Did I answer all your questions?"

The wand maker observed the duo keenly before nodding. "Come in."

As Athena entered the room she realised why Ares had brought her there. The room was huge, probably due to hundreds of expansion charms or even runes and was filled with glass jars from top to bottom. She went near and found that every jar had only one type of material inside, like a feather of a phoenix, unicorn hair or dragon heartstring. _Must be the cores Ling uses for the wands._ There were several other materials which she didn't recognize at all. Athena was so awestruck that she didn't notice the ward they had entered. But Ares did, although he didn't say anything.

She followed Ares and Ling to a small circular table at one corner and took a seat.

"So, what brought you here? Judging from your accent, you are British. Has Ollivander died?" Ling asked flatly.

Ares chuckled. "No Mr. Ling, he is quite alright. However it's a tradition amongst Aryans to have their wands custom made. We came to know that you are the best in the field. That is the sole reason why we are here."

Ling nodded. "May I see you present wands?"

Ares and Athena gave him their wands. After a few minutes of inspecting them in silence, he spoke blandly, without any emotion on his face. "The wands still follow you but the original connection is not there anymore. You were right, you magic must have changed. I wonder how…" He trailed away, his face scrunched up as if he were thinking hard.

Ares smiled. "Mr. Ling, considering you expertise in the area, you already know that those wands have been used for much longer than 6 years. You probably also have an idea why our magic changed, so don't act as if you are ignorant of the key factors. I'll be frank and truthful with you and I expect the same from you. We are here to get our wands made. If you don't want to make our wands we'll leave right away. If you do, we keep our secrets and you keep yours. There will only be a trader-customer relationship. Do we have an understanding?"

Ling looked a bit shocked. No one had ever talked to him that way. He knew he was dealing with someone who was definitely not an almost 16 year old. Moreover they bore the name of Aryan. He decided tread carefully and fulfil any work he could do.

"Yes, we do. And yes I'll make your wands. Please walk among the shelves and bring the jar you feel drawn to. Then after calculating the relevant arithmantic formulas you will have to choose the wood for the wands."

Ares nodded and proceeded to walk among the shelves. However Athena had something else on her mind.

"What Arithmantic formulas are you talking about?" She asked the wand maker.

"You are interested in Wandlore?" Ling was surprised. Very few had interest in that branch of magic.

"No, Ares is the Wandlore expert. I am more interested in Arithmancy."

"Oh, alright. The material which you choose have different properties. After finding out their equations we have to integrate them. The result will tell us the best possible wood for making the wand. Almost every equation holds true for two kinds of woods. Did I answer your questions?"

Athena nodded and followed Ares. As she walked by the shelves she felt drawn to a particular jar. She picked it up and upon observing it easily recognised the silvery white tail hair of a unicorn. She was a bit surprised considering that her last core was a dragon heartstring. Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard. (Extracted from Pottermore, not mine.)

As Athena was about to return to Ling, she felt another pull. She moved towards the bottle and as she slowly grasped it she actually felt a slight tingling passing her body. She looked at the label on the jar, _Griffin heartstring, 1561._ That surprised her. The first selection of Unicorn hair contrasted with Griffin heartstring as Griffin core wands were much more powerful than Unicorn wands and more conducive to battle magic. Not much is known about them as such wands were very rare. She brought the two jars to Ling giddy with excitement.

She found Ares near the wand maker, two vials in his hand. Ling was looking over some equations on a parchment. Both were frowning. Sensing that something was wrong she asked her brother, "What happened?"

Ares turned towards her and sighed, "I selected two cores, both liquids and polar opposites of each other."

 _Liquids?_ Athena had never heard of liquid cores before. "What?"

"Phoenix tears and Basilisk venom." He deadpanned.

A look of understanding graced her beautiful features as she made the connection. Ares was bitten by a basilisk in his last life and a phoenix healed his wound. However Athena didn't need to be a Wandlore expert to guess that a wand having polar opposite substances as cores wouldn't last long.

Ling clearing his throat brought them to reality.

"I am not sure that I can make your wand Mr Aryan. The opposite natures of the cores you brought will cancel out each other leaving the wand devoid of any magic. I am sorry but there is nothing that can unify them to work together."

Athena noticed that Ares face, which had a sadness embedded in it, glowed with hope after hearing the last sentence.

Smiling mysteriously he said, "Have a look at the cores Athena brought Mr. Ling. I'll be back shortly", and disappeared amongst the many shelves.

Ling nodded and indicated her to give him the materials. Athena shrugged and did so. If Ares had an idea he would share it with her eventually. She watched Ling inspect the heartstring and the hair, all the while writing equations on a parchment. After that he proceeded to integrate them. Just as Ares appeared with a jar Ling spoke, "The equations lead to only one wood, white oak. However, the two cores will need a binding agent. I believe your blood will do the trick. Furthermore a blood bound wand will only work for the person with whose blood it is bound."

"That's great. But it won't exactly be legal, would it?" Athena asked smiling a bit to gleefully than normal. Since she had truly become an Aryan her thinking had become shrewder and she constantly sought out loopholes in the law. After all, whatever the Aryans did, they did it within the law and if they ever had to do anything outside it they made sure no one knew about it.

Ling smiled, for the first time since they came in. "What's the law for an Aryan?"

The Aryan siblings smirked, identically.

"What did you get, Ares?" Athena asked her brother as he handed a jar to the wand maker.

"Threstal hair."

Athena face-palmed mentally. Of course, it was quite obvious. Ares once wielded the Elder Wand, the only known wand with a Threstal hair core, so he developed an affinity for it. Moreover what could be a greater unifier than Death? Threstals symbolised exactly that.

Seeing the wand-maker look at his brother in astonishment she replied, "Ares has used a Threstal hair core wand before. I believed it had a slight attraction to you?" She asked her brother.

Ares nodded, excitement shining in his eyes. "Yes, however I didn't notice it the first time as the magic of the other two cores were keeping my senses busy. Moreover it wasn't exactly attracting me, more like giving me a wary signal as if it wasn't sure to offer me allegiance. But as I grasped it, a gust of power surged through me. It is going to be a hell of a wand."

Ling was a loss of words. When he finally managed to speak, he couldn't keep out the awe and thrill from his words. "Never had I seen any person with the affinity to three powerful wand cores. I will make your wands with great honour and pleasure."

"Well, that's my brother." Athena said proudly lifting her chin up a bit.

"How will you keep the basilisk venom from corroding the other two cores?" Ares asked a bit anxiously.

"Leave that to me Mr. Aryan. I'll have your wands ready by nightfall."

"Can we watch you make them?" Athena asked a bit eagerly.

Ling smiled. "Of course Miss Aryan, you are welcome to stay if you don't have any pressing issues at hand. You too Mr. Aryan."

Over the next four hours they watched Ling make their wands. Her wand making process was quite simple. Ling took her blood in a thin 15in long glass pipe and inserted the two cores inside amidst long recitations of ancient binding charms. The blood acted as the gum which bound the two cores together, the ancient binding charms ensuring that it would last an age. The fused reddish core strand was then inserted inside the white oak wood casing and after a few more minute binding spells, her wand was ready.

It literally took her breath away. The slim wand was pure white with a crimson line spiralling from the base to the tip as if it were a vine climbing a tree. Ares congratulated her on getting such a beautiful wand. As she held the wand a sense of euphoria overwhelmed her senses, the feeling of completion. Reddish-golden sparks erupted from the tip and she felt powerful, almost invincible. The other occupants of the room also felt the magic, the wand's acceptance of its mistress. It was a happy, empowering feeling.

So engrossed was Athena in admiring her new wand that she almost missed the making of Ares' wand. The wand maker took a piece of Redwood and shaped it in the form of a wand. Unlike her wand it was thicker and instead of making a thin hole to insert the core, Ling split the wand casing into two parts vertically and began to carve out the interior in the form of a canal. He then spent the better half of an hour carving minute runes in various parts of the two halves. He then went to the adjoining furnace and poured something thick on the canals and joined the two halves together.

"What was that?" Ares asked curiously.

Ling smiled. "Basilisk venom would disintegrate the wood casing at once. So I placed a layer of silver inside to prevent that."

Ares frowned. "What about the Threstal hair then? Won't the venom disintegrate it too?"

"Magical creatures have some resistance to its corrosive abilities, although the only thing that will save you from a venom spray would be Basilisk skin. Threstal hair might resist the venom for about a minute, long enough for me to insert the phoenix tears which would counter its effects.

"We can only hope that this wand works Mr. Aryan. I fear that the venom and tears would neutralise each other leaving only the Threstal hair functional. But if the Threstal hair can combine life and destruction with death, it would be the most powerful wand in magical history."

The Aryan siblings continued to watch in fascination as the wand maker poured in the venom after the silver had cooled down, Ares a bit grimly as well. Ling awaited till silvery-yellowish fumes arose from the wand and then quickly inserted the Threstal hair before pouring in the Phoenix tears slowly. Amidst a hissing sound white smoke emerged from the canal as if a fire had been extinguished. Ling quickly sealed the entrance at the base of the wand with some more silver and placed the wand in a glass container.

As soon as he closed the door of the container various runes glowed blue and its cooling feature was initiated. Within 1 minute the temperature inside had been reduced to about -273C and the glass turned foggy. Unable to see what was going on inside, Athena asked Ling.

"What is happening?"

"I'm allowing the silver to condense. If my calculations are correct the wand should be ready by 5 minutes."

"What is actually happenening?" Ares asked. He could not follow Ling properly after he poured the venom in the wand canal.

"Why Mr. Aryan, you should know. After all, as your sister informed me, you are the Wandlore expert." Ling spoke teasingly.

Athena turned a bit red although Ares kept his calm.

"True, Mr. Ling. But I'm rather inexperienced when it comes to _making_ wands. There is much more to wand making than just Wandlore. That is why we are here. So?"

Ling laughed. "You are right. You see, when I poured the venom in, it reacted with the silver, one of the few things which does. As a result, tremendous heat was produced which started melting the interiors. As soon as I added the phoenix tears, the corrosion ended. However enough silver would have probably mixed with the cores. I then sealed the entrance with more molten silver and placed it to cool down and condense. As a result the core should be now a solid, comprising of the three cores and silver binding them together, just like the blood in Miss Aryan's Wand."

"Should be?" Ares asked a bit anxiously.

"I've never made such a wand before, Mr. Aryan. So I can't be sure of the result. But anyway we'll find out soon."

"Will the silver melts if the wand heats up while performing powerful magic?"

Ling thought for a moment before replying, "I don't think it will, Mr. Aryan. The three cores represent the highest power in their respective fields. Phoenix tears are the most potent in healing and can even reverse the effect of the strongest and deadliest of all venoms, Basilisk's. The Threstal hair core symbolises death but in reality the core is more attuned to perform stronger magic. Moreover the three has solidified with silver, the only metal conducive to magic. That is what only silver id used to make magical swords and not gold. The combination, if it truly accepts you will only ever be your wand as Phoenix cores are always pickiest when it comes to owning it. Even if one forcibly takes it away from you, the wand will be hard to tame and even after that will not work well for the usurper. Let's wait and see."

The next 5 minutes were Ares' worst. They watched with bated breath as the foggy glass cleared, revealing the wand of the Aryan Lord. It was… wow. The dark red wand had a silver base from where two lines of silver moved towards the tip in a straight line. Ares noticed that the silver lines were exactly in the places where the wand had been split into two earlier. Apparently the silver had melted through the mending before cooling down.

Ling took the wand out and smoothed the silver where it was uneven. When Ares finally held it in his hand a deep feeling of immense power surged through him. The wand sparked and hummed in undisguised power as it accepted its master. A bright light emerged from within Ares, blinding the other two occupants. The jars began to shake fervently although none fell down. Ares looked at his new wand. The silvery lines and base were glowing, giving out light of its own. After a few moments, everything returned to its normal state.

Athena and Ling uncovered their eyes which they had shielded with their hands. Ares looked at Athena quizzically. In his state of euphoria he hadn't noticed the light emerging from him. Athena just gave him a proud smile and a thumbs up. "Voldy is so very dead."

Ares smiled. The power of the wand which lay in his hands was much more than the Elder wand. Athena's words held every bit of truth. Voldemort would have a very hard time when he comes home.

…To be continued

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A/N: How come none of you have reviewed yet? Don't like it? Please tell me then, in a review (hehe). Chapter 3 is underway. I might be able to past it within the next week. Happy reading.

ArunabhAryan out \m/


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